Mental Health Nursing students sat down with academic Iain Schrantz to talk about dealing with stress and maintaining their wellbeing during their studies.

The students are part of the Health Academy, a UON placement initiative where students provide health advice and interventions for fellow students and the wider University community.

As part of the ‘Holistic Health’ podcast series, AssociateProfessor Dr Tracey Redwood from the University's Centre for Health Sciences and Services sat down to talk with UON Counsellor Danny Davidson about ManSpace, a 'drop-in and chill' initiative that also supports the mental health of male students and staff.

They are joined by Niall Redmond, former student and who now works at UON as a Customer Service Assistant, about why ManSpace is important.

We sat down with key people at our last Open Day and chatted about the day, what students can get out of an Open Day and what questions you should always try to get answered before you leave.

This podcast was recorded live during the event and the audio may be affected by this.

Find out more: https://www.northampton.ac.uk/about-us/contact-us/open-days/

Our Centre for Health Sciences and Services podcast episodes is called 'Holistic Health'. They are about about bringing the ethos, research and work out of the University and into the public domain.

For this episode, the UK’s only Professor of CompassionateCare – Al Aynsley-Green, also a Visiting Professor at UON and a medical doctor – sat down to chat about his career and area of expertise and reflections on the recent death of his wife.

Al also talks about the issues he sees with compassionate care in the UK in 2025 and where the health service should concentrate it efforts.

Al’s looking for a "momentum" in compassion in UKhealthcare and sets a challenge for listeners to respond about what they feel – or will action – after listening to this conversation.

Compassionate care is a key part of many UONdegrees and courses, so Al is joined by CHSS co-lead and Associate Professor Dr Tracey Redwood (a children and young people’s nurse) and Senior Lecturer in AdvancedNursing, Win Hughes.

They cover Professional Nurse Advocates at UON, how care and compassion is woven throughout undergraduate curricula at UON and Mental Health First Aid training that is given to all UON undergraduate Nursing students.

The University will hold its second Care and Compassion conference on 30 March 2026; keep an eye on on our events page for more.

The next Holistic Health podcast episodes will cover single mothers and the stigma around online dating, support dogs and BAME/GEM people who work in the NHS.

Toru Digital is an innovative agency that solves problems for their clients using AI, deploying solutions that work. Listen to them talk about their journey, how to crack AI in the future and how working with UON helped speed them along.

Find out more:

https://www.northampton.ac.uk/business/fuelling-innovation/

As part of our Student Futures Careers Expo, we're putting on workshops to get you prepped for how to approach the shows.

Here from Matt our workshop host on how to connect with people, build confidence and make a spark in your conversations

Expo details here: https://www.northampton.ac.uk/student-life/student-futures/careers-expo/

Northamptonshire is a powerhouse of innovation – home to global brands like Warner’s Gin, Weetabix, and GXO Logistics, not to mention the thousands of SMEs that are always innovating for their customers, their businesses and their communities. With a rich heritage of enterprise and a vibrant ecosystem of forward-thinking businesses, it’s the perfect place for innovation to thrive.

Fuelling Innovation is a dynamic campaign designed to ignite creativity, foster collaboration, and build a stronger future for businesses across the region. Through a packed programme of events, workshops, conferences, and networking sessions, we’re sparking new ideas and driving growth.

https://www.northampton.ac.uk/business/fuelling-innovation/

Dr John Pendleton, Senior Lecturer in Midwifery and his student Connor Harvey sat down with Associate Professor Dr Tracey Redwood for this episode of the ‘Holistic Health’ podcast from our Centre for Health and Sciences and Services.

Dr Pendleton discusses his career as one of around 170 male midwives in the UK and his research that looks at men in a largely female profession and how an old profession such as midwifery is seen works within modern world settings.

John and Connor also discuss how these investigations inform the Midwifery teaching and learning experience at UON.

Connor is one of only two, male-identifying Midwifery students at UON and he covers how he wants to make a difference for his patients and the profession.

For the second of their series of ‘Holistic Health’ podcasts, Centre for Health Sciences and Services co-lead, Associate Professor Dr Tracey Redwood, invited UON PhD student Elaine Williams.

Elaine’s research on the lived experiences of perimenopausalwomen who have undergone BoTNA (Botox) treatment. Elaine discusses the methods she used for research that explores themes of aging, self-perception and emotional wellbeing and the support she had from Tracey and colleagues in getting her PhD underway.

She used I-poems to highlight participants’ narratives,providing fresh insights into the intersection of aesthetic medicine and mental health.

There's more about Elaine and her research on the CHSS Pure page.

Since 2019 the University has run ‘research for the price of a cuppa’ (and cake!) talks called Café Scientifique, part of our Centre for Health Sciences and Services (CHSS).

In this first 'Holistic Health' podcast episode from CHSS, centre co-lead AssociateProfessor Dr Tracey Redwood, Professor John Horton and Project Administrator Ruth Hughes-Rowland gathered to talk about what the Café are, the impact of recent talksand why members of the public should come along.

The next Café is on Thursday 18 September with Associate Professor Dr Declan Ryan talking about green spaces in Northampton.

Find out more about Café Scientifique on the team’s Pure page.